​Universal hospital fee exemption will bring sweeping benefits including improved access to healthcare, earlier detection and treatment of illnesses, more efficient use of health financing, and reduced financial pressure on households.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who is also Head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, chaired the committee's 20th meeting via teleconference with all 63 provinces and centrally-run cities of the country.

A total of 67 million children around the world, including nearly 250,000 in Vietnam, missed out on vaccinations between 2019 and 2021, with vaccination coverage levels decreasing in 112 countries, UNICEF warned on April 20 in a new report on immunisation.

Vietnam recorded 2,197 new COVID-19 cases on August 27, according to the Ministry of Health.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam on December 22 asked COVID-19 prevention and control groups and other relevant forces to double efforts in vaccinations, support patients and ensure that those under home quarantine and treatment enjoy the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.

Vietnam recorded 14,922 COVID-19 cases, including 28 imported ones, in the past 24 hours to 5pm on September 3, according to the Ministry of Health.

The Lao Government has decided to extend its lockdown order for two more weeks from September 1 amid the rising number of COVID-19 infections.

The vaccination of prisoners against COVID-19 in Cambodia is likely to be completed by the end of the month as only 5,000 inmates still need to get vaccinated, according to the country's General Department of Prisons (GDP) spokesman Nouth Savna.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on June 21 threatened to jail those who refuse COVID-19 vaccines as the country is struggling with one of the most serious COVID-19 waves in Asia with more than 1.3 million infections and over 23,000 deaths.

Singapore should be able to relax restrictions on social gatherings after June 13, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on May 31.

Workers in the northern provinces of Bac Giang and Bac Ninh, two localities hit hardest by the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, began receiving vaccinations on May 27.

Vietnam confirmed 127 new infections of COVID-19, all detected in quarantine facilities or in locked down areas, over the last 12 hours to 6:am on May 16, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

As many as 1,500 frontline employees of national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines are being vaccinated against COVID-19 from May 13 to 20.

Authorities of Hanoi capital city and the northern province of Hai Duong have asked relevant agencies and people to strengthen efforts in COVID-19 prevention and control, amid complicated developments of the pandemic in surrounding countries.

The ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) forecast the ASEAN+3 region will expand by 6.7 percent this year and 4.9 percent in 2022, after contracting marginally by 0.2 percent in 2020.

A diphtheria outbreak has officially been announced at the district level in the southern province of Binh Phuoc.

The Digital Immunisation Registry (ImmReg) initiative, initiated by PATH, an international non-profit organisation in Vietnam, received the Healthcare Innovation Award at a ceremony in Hanoi on March